News | November 24, 2009

Axcient Releases V. 1 Of Its Partner Portal

Axcient,a comprehensive data backup, business continuity and disaster recovery services vendor focuses on the SMB market, has announced the release of version 1.0 of its Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner Portal. The new Axcient Partner Portal creates an experience that is user-friendly and helps MSPs easily understand the value of selling the Axcient solution. In parallel with a pending Axcient product release currently in Beta, Axcient has designed an innovative pricing model eliminating upfront equipment purchases and focus on discrete features. The pricing and packaging changes in concert with the new Partner Portal, establishes an innovative and productive channel business opportunity between Axcient and its MSP partners.

"We want to move away from the traditional approach where manufacturers focus on what their partners can do for them, instead of what manufacturers can do for their partners," said Axcient CEO Justin Moore. "Meeting the needs of the MSP has been core to our business since we started the company, and now that our business is growing, we need to continue to prove that. The new pricing model and partner portal experience is based on the feedback and needs of our partners. It has literally been created by them, for them, with an aim of creating a ‘frictionless' partner experience."

Axcient MSP Partner Portal Features
Axcient conducted numerous focus groups and surveys in order to garner feedback on what MSPs liked and disliked about their experience with other partner portals, pricing mechanisms and the contracting process. As a result, the company designed a secure site that helps MSPs define the current and future data protection needs of their customers. The portal provides traditional selling tools such as whitepapers and data sheets as well as:

  • A suite of 3-minute instructional videos that cover topics ranging from competitive positioning, solution selling and technical support
  • A simple and guided online requirements and pricing tool which creates professional, downloadable customer proposals that have been automatically branded with the MSP logo

Axcient MSP Partner Portal Benefits

  • Eliminates the need for complex price sheets with multiple levels and choices requiring extended technical assistance

  • Greatly reduces the time needed to create proposals and bids in order to quickly close a sale

  • Aligns the partner and Axcient with solving the customer's business challenges

    • New Axcient Packages
    Unlike other storage manufacturers that price purely on gigabyte pricing, server and workstations licenses or a myriad of feature price add-ons, Axcient's refreshed pricing methodology reflects the need of the customer in three easily selectable bundles. There are three packages available that include basic file and folder backup with disaster recovery services and it can be sold with or without server and application protection (Microsoft Exchange, SQL, etc.). And starting early next year, a new level called Business Fortify, will be available that includes a highly innovative approach to bring real business continuity functionality to the SMB market.

    "Axcient's motto for the managed service partner community is ‘Easy Sell, Easy to Deploy and Easy to Manage,'" said Moore. "To meet our motto, we understand that we have to provide the best products and services, and we need to constantly improve our MSP partner experience from procurement through deployment."

    "As a small business company, it is such a relief to have a backup and disaster recovery solution that works as easy as turning on a TV," said Juan Serna, IT director, Caliwood Tech. "For example, after setting up and running Exchange Backup for the first time, the restore process was a piece of cake. The interface is straightforward. It's as if you're searching for a message directly in Outlook."

    About Axcient
    Axcient provides a complete data protection solution, purpose-built as a platform for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to serve their small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers. The company delivers a hybrid on-premise appliance with backup and business continuity capabilities combined with its cloud-based disaster recovery service, all managed through the web. The pay-as-you-grow service features zero infrastructure, license, or software costs, thereby eliminating capital expenditures and minimizing operating expenses for the MSP and their customers alike. Axcient protects organizations in a wide range of industries, including legal, financial services, healthcare, design and creative industries, retail, credit card services, Web-based companies, and education. The Axcient service is available exclusively through a nationwide network of IT solution providers. For more information, visit www.axcient.com.